Chapter 1 - Brief Overview: Discovery, Regulation, Properties, and Fate of POPs

Abstract

Environmental forensics is a growing multidisciplinary field which combines traditional applied sciences, in particular analytical chemistry, with socioeconomic factors to identify the source, age, and timing of a contaminant into the environment. Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) are a group of priority pollutants which by their chemical nature are capable of long-range transport and biomagnification in food chains, including bioaccumulation in human and animal tissue. Mounting scientific evidence has suggested that they may be found not only in industrial locations but also in remote regions, such as deep ocean sediments and the Antarctic. They have been found to pose a significant risk to the environment and human health prompting the formation of environmental bodies like the United States Environmental Protection Agency and lead to the implementation of regulations to restrict their use. This chapter highlights significant discoveries of POPs in the environment, development of key analytical techniques and legislative milestones in the control of POPs in the environment. It also includes a brief description of the physical and chemical properties of POPs and finishes with a concise explanation of the main environmental processes that control the environmental behavior of POPs.